"This is a homecoming. We have brought back the puja to its original home," said Manab Majumdar, who helped organise the city's first Durga Puja in 1963 - sponsored by distinguished Bengali journalist and newspaper proprietor Tushar Kanti Ghosh.

The Belsize Park puja is one of around 20 Durga celebrations held across the British capital every autumn - festivities whose ranks have swelled in tandem with a growing number of Bengali immigrants taking up jobs in banking, finance and information technology.

Although there is no exact count of the number of Indian Bengalis in London, some long-term settlers think the community has now become a substantial minority.

However, unlike the large community from Bangladesh, the Indian Bengalis are spread thinly across the British capital.

"For the first time in London, it is the second generation of Bengalis who are leading a puja - that's what makes Belsize Park so special. People also love its homely atmosphere," said Majumdar.

Things have come a long way for Durga Puja celebrations in London.

The first puja in 1963 was organised with help from the Indian High Commission, which provided the khichuri - a mix of rice and pulses that is fed to all participants.

Since then a string of high-profile entrepreneurs with Kolkata connections, including Swraj Paul, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Raj Kumar Bagri and Nirmal Sethia, have donated generously and gifted Durga idols.

The idol at Belsize Park has been donated by S.N. Gourisaria, a businessman who as a student was closely linked with India League, the London-based nationalist group that lobbied for India.

"We are expecting (Bollywood veteran) Sharmila Tagore to turn up this year," said Majumdar.

"She wants to join in the sindoor-khela festivities on the last day and put sindoor (vermillion powder) on the idol. I don't think she has ever done that before."